Spike Lee On 'He Got Game'

Spike Lee has directed a lot of great movies like She's Gotta Have It, the Oscar nominated Do The Right Thing, Malcom X, and Mo's Better Blues among others.

This weekend He Got Game opened in the number one spot and CBS This Morning Co-Anchor Mark McEwen interviewed Lee to find out more about his film.

The movie is about his great love for basketball, but it is more about individuals, trust and family than it is about sports.

Denzel Washington plays a father, Jake Shuttlesworth, and professional basketball player Ray Allen plays his son Jesus, the number one rated basketball playing high school senior.

Jake is serving time in prison for murdering his wife, but he gains a temporary release from the governor with one catch: He can earn early parole if he persuades Jesus to pick the governor's alma mater.

There are a lot of pressures surrounding a player said Lee. In his talks with basketball players in the movie he found out that most of them expect, "strangers to be leeches. But what was surprising is how their family started to act when people started to smell the money."

In the movie Lee also touches on that story through one of Jesus's relatives uncle Bubba who wants a new house with a pool.

When asked about storytelling Lee said "That's what directors are or should be, storytellers." And that he is still trying to master the craft of film making but "it is really hard and it takes time too" he said.

To critics Spike Lee does not have a problem telling the story. Stanley Crouch said " He Got Game is a major moment in American cinema."

And Lee could not be more pleased, but said "This film was not a revelation. This is in line with the body of work I've been doing from Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X, Clockers."

You can say he is on the right path and he hopes to shoot another film this summer.